Road guard rail



April 23, 1935. M H 1,999,065

ROAD GUARD RAIL Filed NOV. 3, 1933 2 SheetsSheet 1 A2TORNEY5 April 23, 1935. R, B, MITH 1,999,065

ROAD GUARD RAIL Filed Nov. 5, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR fMM /LM KMK ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 23, 1 935 Ui'lED SAT? orrlcs 29 Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in road guard rails.

The object of my invention is to provide a guard rail adapted to be arranged along dangerous parts of highways and so constructed and arranged that it can be readily attached to posts or other supports suitably shaped and the attaching means serving as means for resiliently connecting and supporting the ends oftwo adjacent sections of the rails together.

Another object of my invention is to provide an elastic cushion to which the longitudinal members of the guard are attached and by its elasticity, tends to nullify the impact forces upon a vehicle which may. crash into the same and also to assimilate and absorb the force of the blow on the guard rail and also relieve the post or support nearest the point of impact of a greater portion of the force of the blow, by transmitting it to adjacent members.

A further object of my invention is to provide a guard of this type in which the longitudinal rail members are made in sections nearly equal to the distances between the posts or supports and in which the resilient means for connecting the guard rails to the post also connect the adjacent ends of two guard rails together whereby any shock on any guard rail is taken up by the guard rails on each side.

A further object of my invention is to provide a simple, cheap and efiective guard rail and its attaching means, in which shocks from any direction, either vertical, horizontal or oblique are more readily absorbed.

A further object of my invention is to provide a supporting means whereby expansion and contraction due to atmospheric conditions may be absorbed in each individual guard rail member.

A still further object of my invention is the arrangement of the supporting members, the manner in which they are brought through the ends of the longitudinal members so that they overlap the joint between the longitudinal mem-- bers.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure l is a perspective view of a post or support showing two horizontal guard rails having their adjacent ends connected to the post and connected to each other.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of a post having a modified form of connecting and attaching means for the guard rails.

Fig. 3 is a top plan View of the post showing the attaching means in a reversed position to that shown in Fig. 2, whereby there is no right or left attaching means.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken von the line 4-4 Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrow.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5-5 Fig. 3, looking in the direction of the arrow.

Fig. 6 is a front view of Fig. 2.

Fig. i is a front View of Fig. 3.

Fig. 8 is an end view of the post with the attaching means secured thereto before the guard rails have been placed in position.

Fig. 9 is a top plan view of Fig. 8.

Fig. 10 is a side elevation of Fig. 8. 7

Referring to the drawings, i represents a post or other support to which my improved guard rail is adapted to be attached. Secured to the post are two C-shaped attaching members 2 and 3, which are preferably made of heavy resilient steel wire and which are secured to the post by means of the plates d through which passes the bolts 5, which in turn pass through the posts and locked in a tight position by means of nuts, all of which is shown in dotted lines Figure 1 These attaching members are each made of a single piece of resilient steel wire formed in two C-shaped loops connected by the portion 7, thus each attaching member has two free threaded ends. Two attaching members are secured to each post or support and the ends of one member extending in the opposite direction to the ends of the other member as clearly shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings.

The guard rails ill and H are preferably made of flexible sheet metal and are of a length approximately equal or a little less than the distance between the centers of two posts or supports and at each end the rail is turned inwardly as indicated at l2, at an obtuse angle to the body thereof and then turned at right angles thereto as indicated at 13 forming a pocket in which a piece of metal it may be forced which form solid abutments for the tension nuts later to be described.

The end of the guard rail H] is provided with four openings it, it, E and i8, and the end of the guard rail ii is provided with four openings I9, 29, 2! and 22, all of said openings extending obliquely through the guard rails. The attaching member 2 has its ends 23 and 24 extending outwardly through the openings l5 and iii in the guard rail i0 and inwardly through the openings 59 and 29 in the guard rail H and through the turned end it of the rail and also through the piece of block l l. Secured on the threaded end are nuts 25 which abut the end it and whereby the ends of the two guard rails are drawn towards each other under the resilient tension. The attaching member 3 has its free ends 26 and ii threaded and extend in an opposite direction to that of the ends 23 and 2d. These ends extend outwardly through the openings 2i and 22 in the guard rail i and inwardly through the openings E1 and H2 in the guard rail Hi and have nuts 28 threaded thereon which abut the solid abutment of the guard rails and cause a further tension and strengthening of the attaching means.

By having these attaching means of resilient steel wire it will be seen that eachguard rail has a limited movement independent of each other for expansion or contraction of each rail, yet any shock on any guard rail is transmitted to other guard rails, whereby a greater resiliency is obtained. This is due to the fact that the ends of the guard railsare resiliently connected and any shock imparted to any guard is partly taken by the guard rails on each side and the connecting members for the post at their opposite ends. The steel wire attaching means passing loosely through openings in the guard rails allows, of a twisting of the guard rails. The attaching means also allow for an oblique or vertical absorbing means whereby injury to the rail or support is less liable to happen and provides the means for making necessary adjustments where the guard rail is constructed over hills or valleys.

In the modification shown in Figs. 2 to 1G, I have shown the resilient attaching members 23 and 38 of a Z-shape as clearly shown in Fig. 9 of the drawings. In this form the Z-shaped attaching means 29 is formed of a single piece of resilient steel wire having two Z-shaped portions 3! and 32 connected by the portion 33 and having the two ends 30' and 23d extending in the same direction. The attaching member 39 is connected exactly the same as the member with the two Z-shaped portions 35 and 35 connected by a shorter portion 37, whereby the two Z-shaped portions are within the Z-shaped portions of the other member. The last mentioned attaching member is arranged in the reverse position, so that its ends 38 and 39 extend in the opposite direction to the ends 33 and 34.

In the Z-shaped form of attaching means the ends thereof extend through the ends of the guard rails the same as the end of the C-shaped attaching means. That is the ends of one first extend outwardly through one rail and inwardly through the other rail, while the other the ends extend outwardly through the last mentioned guard rails and inwardly through the first mentioned guard rails. In this form the openings in the ends of the rails do not intersect the solid ends and in this case the beveled sleeves lu are provided which abut the thickened solid portion 4| of the rails and the nuts 42 cooperate with the ends of the sleeves. These Z-shaped members are connected to the posts by means of the plate 43 and bolts as. These Z-shaped connecting members also allow for a horizontal, vertical or oblique movement of the guard rails to take care of any shocks and are adapted to be used on the guard rails constructed as desc ibed in Fig. 1.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1 A, road guard, comprising suitably spaced supports, guard rails, and resilient wire members secured to the supports, and havingtheir ends passing through the ends of the adjacent guard rails and adjustably connected thereto.

2. A roadguard, comprising suitably spaced supports, guard rails, resilient wire members secured to the supports and having threaded ends passing through openings in the adjacent ends of two of the guard rails and nuts on said threaded ends adapted to vary the tension of the resilient members on the guard rails.

3. A road guard, comprising suitably spaced supports, guard rails having laterally turned ends, resilient wire members secured to the supports, and having threaded ends passing through openings in the laterally turned ends of two of the adjacent guard rails, and nuts on the'threaded ends adapt-ed to'vary the tension of the resilient members on the guard rails.

4. A road guard, comprising suitably spaced supports, guard rails, resilient members secured to the supports and having their ends passing through the ends of one guard rail and through the adjacent end of the other guard rail and having means for adjustably connecting the member to the guard rails.

5. A road guard, comprising suitably spaced supports, guard rails, resilient wire members secured to the supports and having threaded ends passing outwardly through the end of one guard rail and inwardly through the end of the adjacent guard rail and nuts on the threaded ends on the inside of the guard rails.

6. A road guard, comprising suitably spaced supports, guard rails, resilient Cshaped Wire members secured to the supports and having threaded ends passing outwardly through the end on one guard rail and inwardly through the end of the adjacent guard rail and nuts on the threaded ends on the inside of the second guard rail.

7. A guard rail, comprising suitably spaced supports, guard rails, resilient Z-shaped wire members secured to the supports and having threaded ends passing outwardly through the end of one guard rail and inwardly through the end of the adjacent guard rail and nuts on the threaded ends on the inside of the second guard rail.

8. A guard rail, comprising suitably spaced supports, guard rails, resilient D-shaped wire members secured to the supports and having threaded ends passing outwardly through the end on one guard rail and inwardly through the end of the adjacent guard rail and nuts on the threaded ends on the inside of the second guard rail.

9. A road guard, comprising suitably spaced supports, guard rails, two resilient wire members secured to the supports having two threaded ends, the ends of one member extendin in opposite direction to the other member and threaded and extending outwardly through the ends of one guard rail and inwardly through the adjacent guard rails and nuts on the threaded ends and adapted to increase or decrease the tension of the resilient members on the guard rails.

10. A road guard, comprising suitably spaced supports, guard rails with supports having laterally turned ends forming abutments, resilient Wire members secured to supports and having threaded endspassing outwardly through the ends of one or the guard rails and inwardly through the ends of the adjacent guard rails and nuts on the threaded ends on the inside of the guard rails and co-operating with the abutments on the guard rails.

11. A road guard, comprising suitably spaced supports, guard rails having inwardly laterally turned ends forming pockets for receiving, solid blocks, which in turn form abutments, two resilient wire members secured to the support and having threaded ends, the ends of the two mem--' bers extending in opposite directions outwardly through the ends of one guard rail and inwardly through the end of the other guard rails and nuts on said threaded ends and co-operating with the abutments and adapted to vary the tension of the resilient members on the guard rails.

12. A road guard, comprising suitably spaced supports, guard rails, two resilient members secured to the supports by plates and bolts and each having two ends, the ends of said members extending in opposite directions to the end of the other member and extending outwardly through the ends of one of the guard rails and inwardly through the adjacent end of the other guard rails and nuts onthe threaded ends of the resilient wire members on the inside of the guard rails and adapted to vary the tension of the resilient members on the guard rails.

13. A road guard, comprising suitably spaced supports, sectional guard rails, and resilient members secured to the supports and each resilient member having its ends passing through both of two adjacent guard rail section ends being adjustably connected to said sections.

14. A road guard, comprising suitably spaced supports, a guard rail composed of a plurality of sections, resilient members secured to the supports and passing loosely through the adjacent ends of two rail sections'and secured to said sections for holding the ends of the sections adjacent one another under resilient tension, said resilient connecting and supporting means per mitting the adjacent ends of two sections a free movement in a direction towards one another but permitting a movement of said section ends away from one another only under a flexing of the resilient supports.

15. A road guard, comprising suitably spaced supports, a guard rail composed of a plurality of sections adapted to be arranged in end to end relation to span said supports, a pair of independent resilient members secured to said support and having ends extending in a direction approximately paralleling the guard rail sections, the end of one resilient member extending in the opposite direction to the end of the other re silient member, the ends of said resilient members extending loosely throu h the adjacent ends of two guard rail sections, and the end of one resilient member being secured to the end of one guard rail section and the end of the other resilient member being secured to the end of the other guard rail section, whereby the guard rail sections are resiliently secured to the standard with their ends adjacent to one another and their ends free to move towards one another.

16. A structure such as defined in claim 15, wherein each resilient member is adjustably secured to its respective guard rail section to provide adjustability of the tension of the resilient members on the guard rail sections.

17. A road guard comprising suitably spaced supports. a sectional guard rail, resilient menu bers secured to the supports and having ends passing outwardly through the end of one guard rail section and inwardly through the end of the adjacent guard rail section, and means to secure the ends of said members at the inner sides of the rail sections.

18. A road guard, comprising suitably spaced supports, a sectional guard rail, resilient C-shaped members secured to the supports and having their ends passing through the adjacent ends of two rail sections, and means to secure the ends of said resilient members at the inner sides of said rail sections.

19. A road guard, comprising suitably spaced supports, a guard rail composed of a plurality of sections arranged in end to end relation to span said supportsa pair of C-shaped resilient members secured to said supports and having their ends extending in opposite directions, the ends of said resilient members passing first outwardly and then inwardly through the ends of the adjacent pair of sections, and means securing the ends of said resilient members to the inner sides of said rail sections.

20. A construction such as defined in claim 19, wherein the means securing the ends of the resilient members to the inner sides of the rail sections is adjustable to provide means of varying the tension of the resilient members on the guard rails.

21. A guard rail, comprising suitably spaced supports, said guard rail composed of a plurality of sections, resilient Z-shaped members secured to the supports and having ends passing outwardly through the ends of one rail section and inwardly through the end of an adjacent rail section, and means to secure the ends of the resilient members to the inner sides of the rail sections.

22. A construction such as defined in claim 21, wherein the means for securing the ends of the resilient members at the inner sides of the guard rail sections is adjustable to provide means for selectively varying the tension of the resilient members on the guard rails.

23. A guard rail, comprising suitably spaced supports, said guard rail composed of a plurality of sections, resilient D-shaped members secured to the supports and having ends passing loosely through the adjacent ends of two rail sections, and means for securing the ends of said resilient members to the inner sides of the rail sections.

24. A structure such as defined in claim 23, wherein adjustable means is provided for securing the ends of the resilient members to the inner sides of the guard rails.

25. A road guard, comprising suitably spaced supports, said guard comprising a rail composed of a plurality of sections having laterally inturned ends forming abutments, resilient members secured to the supports and having ends passing outwardly through the abutment at the end of one rail section and inwardly through the abutment of an adjacent rail section, and means for preventing the ends of the resilient member from pulling outwardly through the end of the last mentioned rail section.

26. A road guard, comprising suitably spaced supports, said guard comprising a rail composed of a plurality of sections having laterally inturned ends forming abutments, resilient members secured to the supports and having ends passing through the abutments formed by the inturned ends of the rail sections, and means for prevent ing the ends of the resilient member from pulling through the abutments of the rail sections, whereby the rail sections are secured in end to end relationship across the spaced supports.

27. In a highway guard including spaced supports and a sectional rail, means for connecting the sections to each other and to the supports, said connecting means comprising a pair of members secured to said supports and having ends extending in opposite directions and passing through the adjacent ends of the two rail sections and means to secure the ends of said members to said sections.

28. A construction such as defined in claim 27,.

wherein the ends of the railsconnecting means are secured to the rear sides of said rail sections.

tion securing means are secured to the rail section adjacent its edges and the ends of the other rail securing means are secured to the other rail section atpoints intermediate the width of the rail section.

ROBERT BYRON SMITH. 

